The home side hardly ever threatened, apart from Carlos Tevez's free-kick in the 10th minute and just before the interval when some pub team kicking from Shay Given saw Lee Bowyer hit a 40-yarder just wide.

It was Bowyer's only real contribution to the game, but he wasn't the only one. The United defence was so much on top that West Ham had the embarrassment of leaving their Argentinian superstar Carlos Tevez in the dressing room at the interval.

And his fellow Argentinian Javier Mascherano wasn't far behind him as Scott Parker and Emre completely bossed the midfield.

To be fair, Parker and Emre received excellent support from wingers Damien Duff and James Milner.

And up front Shola Ameobi and Oba Martins looked as though they were going to score every time they went up the field - which was often to say the least.

Martins missed a great chance early on, clearly thinking he was offside, and Ameobi failed to get in a shot when only a couple of yards out.

If I was Roeder I would have been worried at the interval after seeing his side dominate and create, yet miss, so many chances.

Indeed, I kept thinking that West Ham must have a good spell at some stage. They didn't.

That was for one simple reason. They could not get the ball.

And at the end of the day, those first goals for the club from Martins and Duff were scant reward for a tremendous afternoon's work.